Flora's encouragement was well-timed and much appreciated as they moved into the last stretch of gathering stones. Hadama nodded his agreement as he cast about for more stones of the right size.
"When this is done, the Void creatures will not be able to touch our shores." Something they all hopefully knew, but it was worth repeating for the hope in the words. Especially with the Oerwoud's infection leaking into the nearby ocean.
And the Doubletake was the first to finish filling her bags, thanks to her focus on her task. Her lucky streak didn't hurt, either.
Flora metaphorically stumbled on an area that had a chaotically colorful mix of stones of the perfect size so that she didn't need to waste time searching among rocks that were too big or too small. She could simply reach down and almost every stone she grabbed would work for their task.
Kaiden's streak of bad luck finally lifted with the storm. As the enshadowed delphinids retreated the Mer was able to snag several dozen rocks of various colors. None of them were the right blue, but they were all more or less the right size and conveniently round in shape. A quick repair of the bag let them fill it to the top and haul it over to the rest.
Seren might have needed to take a break, but Hadama put his back into working hard enough for both demigods as he swam through the warm, shallow waters with slow, steady decisiveness. Sharp eyes sought out and selected stones in yellows and greens, sometimes grabbing two at a time in his large hand. He added his bags to the pile last, but it was with satisfaction that he met the eyes of the team before he offered them a deep nod of gratitude.
"Thank you. We will deliver these to the Ark. And then I will take you out for our meal." Tired but pleased with their success, he lifted his and Flora's bags with a hidden wink for his co-ruler and led the way to the end of their long day.
~Fin~
